Cathy Bennett (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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24. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment his response to storm Éowyn and the supports available to local businesses adversely impacted as a result. [6707/25]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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Government is acutely aware of the significant challenges that the impacts of Storm Éowyn has caused for business owners over recent weeks.

Since 24 January, I have been closely monitoring the situation in relation to Storm Éowyn and its impacts on the business community through regular updates from the National Emergency Coordination Group and updates from Local Enterprise Offices in the counties with the most significant and prolonged impacts.

Following the immediate damage caused by the storm, many businesses have been impacted by subsequent outages in relation to power, water and communications networks.

I would in the first instance encourage businesses to seek recourse through their insurance providers to cover losses incurred.

My Department has in the past operated targeted Emergency Humanitarian Flooding Scheme in response to specific flooding incidents. These schemes are specifically targeted to providing a contribution to small businesses of up to 20 employees as well as community, voluntary and sporting bodies who have experienced damage as a result of flooding and to help them get back up and running. A condition of eligibility for these schemes is that the businesses must not have been able to secure flood insurance through no fault of its own.

The Programme for Government includes a commitment to an Extreme Weather Event Assistance Scheme, designed to support affected households, farms and businesses. This initiative predates Storm Éowyn and is a strategic policy action for delivery. Officials in my Department have begun working as a matter of urgency on the aspects of such a scheme relevant to the business sector.